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Hard Fall for Track Star Marion Jones; Fatal Armored Car Robbery; Airport Death in Custody
Aired October 05, 2007 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come in to the NEWSROOM live on Friday morning, October 5th.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Hard fall for track star Marion Jones. She reportedly admits steroid use and heads to court today.
HARRIS: An agitated airline passenger dies in police custody. Phoenix police go public with the security tape, insisting they did nothing wrong.
COLLINS: Armored car heist. Is getting a gun in Philadelphia as easy as ordering a pizza? Today, the search for a killer in the NEWSROOM.
From Olympic gold to tarnished athlete, track star Marion Jones reportedly ready to admit using steroids. Something she denied for years.
CNN's Mary Snow is following the story. She joins us from New York live.
Good morning to you, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
And Marion Jones is set to appear before a federal judge here in New York later this afternoon. She will reportedly plead guilty to two counts of lying to federal investigators. Those are charges that could not only land her in jail, but cost her her Olympic medals.
"The Washington Post" was the first to report that the Olympic star admitted taking steroids in a letter she sent to close friends and family. She was said to have taken the steroid known as The Clear for two years before the 2000 Sydney Olympics. There, she won five medals, three of them gold. Now, in this letter, according to "The Washington Post," Jones tells those close to her that she is sorry for disappointing them. For years, there have been suspicions about her using steroids, and she has reportedly denied those claims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARION JONES, OLYMPIC ATHLETE: I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs, and I have accomplished what I have accomplished because of my God-given abilities and hard work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, in her letter, Jones indicated she could face up to six months in prison. But each count of lying to federal investigators carries a maximum penalty of up to five years.
Now, these charges stem from an investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, or BALCO. The International Olympic Committee this morning released a statement saying that it's had an open file on the BALCO investigation since 2004 and that the information Jones may provide later today could prove to be key to move that case forward -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, I was just going to ask you, what could possibly happen to BALCO in all of this? I guess we just don't know until more information comes out?
SNOW: Right. And there have been so many investigations going on in that -- about that laboratory connected to a number of athletes. And as you know, some baseball athletes have also been under investigation. So it's unclear exactly what we'll find out in terms of anybody else.
COLLINS: Yes. All right. Well, we're going to follow it all the way through, of course.
Mary Snow from New York this morning.
Mary, thank you.
SNOW: Sure.
HARRIS: A star of the 2000 Olympics, Marion Jones once considered one of the greatest female athletes in the world.
Larry Smith of CNN Sports is here with a look at Jones' career.
No, no, no, no, no. That understates it.
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HARRIS: Star -- superstar of highest order.
SMITH: Yes. HARRIS: This is a woman -- look, this stings because this is a woman who was embraced by America. We all remember those shots of her crossing the finish line, arms out wide, the smile.
SMITH: Let me take you back even further than that.
I remember Marion Jones back in 1994 as a freshman basketball star at the University of North Carolina...
HARRIS: Yes.
SMITH: ... when they won the NCAA championship team. I mean, she is a phenomenal athlete, which makes this in some respects even more disappointing.
She played hoops for three years before focusing on track. And then, of course, the track and field career then.
Could have even been in the 1996 Olympics, but was injured that year. (INAUDIBLE) basketball, and then focused full time on that.
You know, we forget she had a goal and could have won five gold medals in Sydney, won three.
HARRIS: She won three.
SMITH: Two other medals, so still had five medals. Not only embraced, you know, in such a big way by the U.S., but the world stage. I mean, she was one of the first female millionaire athletes, getting million-dollar appearance fees at meets, getting $70,000 -- $70,000 to $80,000 per meet just to compete in these things. And now she is broke.
HARRIS: And let's talk about it. I mean, let's say -- let's say the two words here -- role model. Was considered by many young people in this country because of that tremendous athletic ability. She talked about playing in the WNBA...
SMITH: Yes.
HARRIS: ... finishing up her track career and then going and playing pro basketball.
She was a role model. She might not want to admit it, but she clearly was, wasn't she?
SMITH: Well, there's no question she was.
HARRIS: I mean, come on.
SMITH: When you have that kind of stature...
HARRIS: Yes.
SMITH: ... in sports or anything in the world stage, you are going to be a role model. And now maybe a different kind of role model, someone who...
HARRIS: Cautionary...
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Hopefully find out -- yes. When you -- you know, when you do this, you take The Clear, when you cheat and you get something that is ill-gotten gains, it's going to come back to you.
HARRIS: Do we now know why now, after the years of denying the use of any performance-enhancing drugs, why now she is reportedly going to admit to using this stuff?
SMITH: Well, that's the multimillion-dollar question right now...
HARRIS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: ... that we hope to find out today, exactly, is why come out now and claim this?
We know that she got married for a second time earlier this year, had her second child, had a baby in July. Certainly her stature right now, her lifestyle has changed than what it was before. We don't know why and hope to find out.
HARRIS: And BALCO -- boy, BALCO. Someone just ought to take a flame thrower to that place and the lives caught up. But, you know, these are athletes who have made choices here. And her coach, look, faces some charges as well.
SMITH: Yes. Trevor Graham is facing the same charges that she is going to answer to today. He was found guilty, three counts of lying. Or he's accused of lying, three counts of lying to federal agents in the BALCO trial. His trial begins next month on those lying charges which she's going to in court today also, for lying to federal agents about her...
HARRIS: Well, there you go. And maybe we'll get more on this later in the day.
Money laundering -- it's not just the lying to investigators about this, it's the money laundering, being involved in a check fraud scheme. So a lot to be worked through today in court.
Larry, great to see you. Thanks for your time.
SMITH: OK. All right.
COLLINS: Now in-depth. A little bit more on steroids and what exactly they do to the body.
We've had these discussions before, but it's always good to remind everybody what these particular drugs are all about. This one, a designer steroid known as THG.
And chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay gupta is here now to walk us through it a little bit.
OK, THG, this is known as "The Clear".
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's known as "The Clear," it's known as "The Cream". The actual name is tetrahydrogestrinone. Now you know why it's called THG. It's hard to say.
COLLINS: Yes.
GUPTA: There are a couple of anabolic steroids that sort of spring to mind. THG is one of them. A lot of people have heard of that.
You may have heard of andro. That's another one as well. Both of these, interestingly, Heidi, were legal not that long ago. You could actually go into a health food store...
COLLINS: I don't think most people know that.
GUPTA: ... and find them. Yes, for a time, until people figured out that these were, in fact, designer steroids.
You called it "The Clear". "The Cream" as well, because you could take it orally, but you could take it as a cream.
Now, there's been a lot of discussion about this stuff in terms of its relationship to flax seed oil. People say, well, I thought I was taking flax seed oil. And a lot of times it's actually taken with flax seed oil. Some distributors even transport it in the same containers as flax seed oil. So that may be where some of that relationship comes in. But it is a steroid, no question about it.
COLLINS: Yes, because that is some of the stuff that we've read, that's what she says, "I thought I was taking flax seed oil."
GUPTA: Right, exactly.
And this whole idea that you're taking this steroid that somehow had been modified a little bit. So, you want to get the testosterone in your body for obvious reasons, to improve your athletic performance, your prowess, all that sort of stuff. But they just add a molecule here and there. That makes it designer, and the whole point of that, Heidi, is so that it escapes detection.
COLLINS: Exactly.
GUPTA: It still gets converted.
COLLINS: "The Clear".
GUPTA: Yes, you're in the clear. It gets converted to testosterone in your body. Same as if you had actually taken that anabolic steroid. It's the same stuff. It's just modified ever so slightly.
COLLINS: I think the other thing here, also, is that when we find out that THG has been taken, usually -- and I don't know yet -- but we seem to find other drugs, other performance-enhancing drugs in the system as well. I mean, it's just a list that begins.
GUPTA: There are a long lists. And it's interesting, because, you know, we've done a lot of stories on this and there's all sorts of terms.
People call it stacking, for example, where you take one drug and you follow it by another drug. The sort of interesting thing is here from a medical standpoint, is that most of these things as designer drugs, designer steroids, still ultimately just get broken down into testosterone or testosterone-like compound in the body. Then they go by different names. You may call it stacking, or whatever, but for the most part, what you end up doing is sort of mega-dosing yourself with this hormone, this anabolic steroid that can, you know, increase your athletic performance.
COLLINS: So then what happens after you quit taking it? I mean, there has to be some sort of long-lasting effect on the body.
GUPTA: Here's one way to think about it that I find interesting.
Our body makes steroids naturally. We have a certain amount of steroids coming in. If you start taking it through pills or through a cream or something like that, your body will stop making it. So your body sort of shuts down as a result of taking these steroids, which is sort of contrary to what people can think.
It can cause liver tumors in the long run, liver cancer. These tumors grow as you're on the steroids and shrink when you stop taking it.
They can cause -- it's bad stuff. It causes your LDL, which is your bad cholesterol, to go up, your good cholesterol to go down. It causes psychological effects, including aggression.
And now we know in the long run it might also cause heart problems, where your heart actually becomes too big and has a hard time beating. And again, these are people who are athletes.
COLLINS: Sure.
GUPTA: So this is especially a problem.
COLLINS: Yes, seen a lot of reports on that.
Real quickly before we let you go, what about this particular one, THG, and violence, roid rage?
GUPTA: Hard to say for sure, but keep in mind, most of these designer steroids do seem to have -- to get broken down into testosterone, which has been well documented in terms of its association with psychiatric problems, including aggression. COLLINS: All right. Very good.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: We want also want to know what you think about Marion Jones' reported steroid use. Send us an e-mail, if you would. That address is newsroom@cnn.com.
We're going to read some of those comments throughout the morning. Just want to know whether or not you might be surprised to have heard this latest admission.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: The tape tells one tale but not the whole story. A woman handcuffed by police and led away. Was she left alone to die?
HARRIS: Tense hours in Alexandria, Louisiana. A hostage standoff at a lawyer's office ending in deadly violence.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The manhunt is still on for the gunman who killed two armored car security guards in Philadelphia.
I'm Jim Acosta. The story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, once again, there is the e-mail question. We need your help on this this morning.
We just want to know what you're thinking on this. What's your reaction to Marion Jones' reported steroid use? Are you shocked? Surprised?
Why don't you send us an e-mail and let us know what you're thinking this morning -- newsroom@cnn.com. And we will read some of your e-mails a little later in the program.
COLLINS: While you were sleeping last night, a hostage situation coming to a violent end.
Alexandria, Louisiana, a lawyer's office taken over by a former city worker. Police say the worker shot five people, killed two of them. Three others escaped or were rescued by police.
The gunman is identified as 63-year-old John Ashley (ph), held police off through much of the night. But just hours ago, police used explosives to get into the office. The gunman killed in a brief firefight.
HARRIS: Manhunt in Philadelphia. Police trying to pin down a suspect who killed two armored car guards. It is a story we covered extensively right here in the NEWSROOM yesterday. Let's get an update now on the story from CNN's Jim Acosta. And Jim, at this point yesterday, we were fully engaged in this story in Northeast Philadelphia, as were the authorities on the ground there. What is the latest on the search for the killer?
ACOSTA: Well, Tony, I hate to break it to you, but police don't have many leads in this case, and they're asking for the public's help. But in response to this brazen attack, the city's police commissioner called on the presidential candidates to start paying attention to the issue of gun control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice over): Three armored car security guards servicing an ATM machine in Philadelphia didn't know what hit them until it was too late. A gunman opened fire, killing one guard, grabbed a bag of cash, and then killed another before making a clean getaway. A third guard sprayed with shattered glass and the gunfire somehow survived.
COMM. SYLVESTER JOHNSON, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: Obviously, it was planned. I mean, obviously, whatever he did today, he intended on assassinating people. And he did, and robbed the place.
ACOSTA: The two guards who died were both retired Philadelphia police officers, 50-year-old Sergeant Joe Alullo and 65-year-old William Whitmire (ph). Police say they had been friends for years.
Images of the two guards were cropped out of these snapshots from the surveillance tape out of respect for their families. The tape may not offer many clues, only that the shooter, dressed in dark clothing, wearing a yellow cap, escaped in a black Acura TL.
At a news conference, Philadelphia's police commissioner, who has come under heavy criticism over the city's high murder rate, wondered aloud why urban crime and the availability of guns are barely getting a mention in the presidential campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any time you have in a country where there's 100,000 people shot or killed, there's not even a mention in the presidential campaign, there's something wrong with that.
ACOSTA: The commissioner has come up with his own controversial solution to street violence, proposing that 10,000 men take to the streets later this month to help patrol the city's most dangerous neighborhoods.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And last year, Philadelphia had the highest murder rate out of all of America's big cities, but the police commissioner says even 20,000 people on the streets yesterday would not have made a difference -- Tony.
HARRIS: Jim, a quick question. The surveillance tape, how helpful has it been? It doesn't sound like it's very helpful if there are very few leads for investigators to go on here.
ACOSTA: Not many leads, Tony. And you could tell from that video there that they don't have a whole lot to work with.
That grainy image is just very hard to make out. And we don't really get a good look at the gunman's face. I mean, you hate to give anybody credit for pulling off something like this, but the cap and the clothing seem to really shroud this gunman and make it very difficult for the public to get a sense as to who this person is.
HARRIS: CNN's Jim Acosta for us.
Jim, appreciate it. Thank you.
ACOSTA: You bet.
COLLINS: Toxic toys, tainted Campbell's Soup, even contaminated scout badges. Important recalls you need to know about.
HARRIS: And look, be honest here. What would you do after finding a bulging bag of greenbacks?
Stay with us. We will tell you what this woman did.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: An update now on a story we have been following closely for you in the NEWSROOM. Phoenix police releasing videotape of a woman who died a short time after being taken into custody.
CNN's Joe Johns reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few but not all of the last moments of Carol Ann Gotbaum's life preserved in pictures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Earlier in the video...
JOHNS: Three camera angles caught the action but there's no audio. Still, it's clear the woman is making a scene.
In a moment, one camera shows she's on the floor, taken down and handcuffed. Two other cameras show her being taken away, apparently stiff-legged.
Police say they found no violations of policy or procedures so far and the investigation is still ongoing. Whatever the video shows, there are things it clearly doesn't, like what happened in a holding cell when she was placed handcuffed and shackled to a bench. She was later discovered and pronounced dead after attempts to revive her failed. Police say she was left there alone for between six to eight minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They heard her yelling and screaming the whole time, so and that was within earshot of the officers that were there. We do not have cameras inside of holding cells. We're prohibited to do that by policy.
JOHNS: The family's lawyer says that's a big problem. He says they should never have left her alone and there should have been a camera in the look-up to be the final record of what happened in confinement.
MICHAEL MANNING, GOTBAUM FAMILY ATTORNEY: Unfortunately, there's no video in that portion of the airport so that we can tell. And more unfortunately Carol's not here to tell us one way or the other.
JOHNS: A police department policy manual says audio and video recording of detainees is not permitted in the lock-up to protect detainees' privacy. Today, the husband of Carol Ann Gotbaum's arrived in Phoenix to take her body back to New York City, and there was even controversy over the body itself. While the county medical examiner's office permitted an independent autopsy by a pathologist who was hired by the family, the family's lawyer said certain organs, the brain, the neck, and the heart, were not turned over for independent examination.
MANNING: We don't know why. What we were told is that they were too busy. And that's a hard thing to hear under those circumstances, because our pathologist had to leave that afternoon and they knew that. So we were on a serious time pressure -- under serious time pressure to get that autopsy done and get it done completely.
JOHNS: The Maricopa County medical examiner could not be reached for comment. One former medical examiner who has handled his share of high profile cases is Dr. Jonathan Arden of Washington, D.C., he said it is not uncommon for certain body parts to be held back for further study. In a case like this, however, there's a danger.
JONATHAN ARDEN, FORMER MEDICAL EXAMINER: You really need to be particularly careful about the release of information, not to look like you're hiding something, not to give anybody the false impression or any impression that they're not getting the full story.
JOHNS: And transparency here is part of the reason police held this news conference and released the video.
Joe Johns, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And coming up a bit later in the NEWSROOM, we are going to show you more of that videotape. Did police follow the proper procedures? And we will hear from our law enforcement expert, Mike Brooks.
COLLINS: Still ahead, track star Marion Jones, her stand on steroids then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs, and that I have accomplished what I have accomplished because of my God- given abilities and hard work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Oh, man.
COLLINS: Today, Marion Jones comes clean. She will reportedly admit to steroid use.
We're on the story all day in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The guilty verdict stands, says a judge. It doesn't matter, says the senator from Idaho. He is sticking around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, right along with us.
I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.
good morning, everyone.
Unfolding this hour, a star athlete dogged by steroid allegations. Now she reportedly is ready to come clean. Track star Marion Jones set to appear in federal court this afternoon. She is expected to plead guilty to lying to federal agents about using performance enhancing drugs. According to "The Washington Post," Jones admits using the steroid known as "the clear" in a letter to family and friends.
Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis reacts to the reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "AMERICAN MORNING")
CARL LEWIS, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Well, actually, I was surprised, because it's very rare that people that get away with it ultimately admit it. But what's great about this that it shows what -- that this America's problem and that between government and the sport and you saw it -- and all the powers that came together and stayed on it until they found out. And she had to admit it finally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: For years, Jones adamantly denied using steroids. And admission could cost her the five Olympic medals she won -- three of those gold -- in the 2000 Games Sydney.
Some background now on Marion Jones and a closer look at the highlights of her career. Jones is 31-years old. She turns 32 next week. She was born October 12th, 1975, in Los Angeles. In addition to being a track superstar, man, of the highest order, Jones played basketball in high school and in college at North Carolina. She was a journalism and communications major and graduated from North Carolina in 1977.
Jones won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She also won three gold medals, a silver and a bronze at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships.
And we here at CNN want -- we want your reaction to Marion Jones' reported steroid use.
Are you shocked?
Surprised?
Not at all?
Send us an e-mail and let us know what you think, cnnnewsroom@com. And we will read some of your e-mails a little later in the program.
COLLINS: Ceremony on sacred ground -- dedicating the country's newest national monument -- a site where hundreds of the first Africans in New York were buried and almost forgotten.
CNN's Allan Chernoff reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From its very beginning, New York was a slave town. African slaves helped build the colony and establish it as a commercial center. Blacks were banned from burial in church yards, so north of the city, which then was the lower tip of Manhattan, the Negro Burial Ground was established. More than 10,000 people were laid to rest across nearly seven acres -- where office buildings now stand.
TARA MORRISON, SUPERINTENDENT, AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND MONUMENT: People are quite often amazed that slavery existed in New York, that there was an African Burial Ground in use for approximately a hundred years.
CHERNOFF: It had been forgotten by all but a handful of historians until digging began for a new skyscraper.
(on camera): The archaeological dig here provided vivid proof that, indeed, New York City had been built on the backs of slaves. And as if they hadn't suffered enough degradation, their burial ground was simply covered over with dirt -- New York City literally was built on top of their bodies.
HOWARD DODSON, SCHOMBURG CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN BLACK CULTURE: There was nothing morally or ethically in the consciousness of the peoples at that time that would have required them to consider the site a sacred site and consider the people buried there anything other than, in effect, discarded slaves.
CHERNOFF: That act of disrespect, ironically, served to preserve the bodies and history. Remains of 419 people were excavated and analyzed. This skeleton, a woman age 25 to 35. Her bones indicate arthritis and scarring at muscle connections -- results of hard labor.
Four years ago, the 419 African ancestors were re-interred -- given honor they never had in death. And with today's dedication of the African Burial Ground National Monument, the country now has a memorial to tell the story of their contribution to the United States.
DODSON: These enslaved Africans who were buried in the burial ground were part of the formation and foundation and development of New York City. For the better part of 200 years, they've been a forgotten page in history, a missing page in history, a missing presence in New Yorkers' consciousness and our nation's consciousness.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHERNOFF: The African Burial Ground is a painful reminder of the inhumane origins of our nation. But it is also a point of pride for the African-American community, that its ancestors are finally getting proper recognition -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Allan, tell us more about that, if you would. Obviously, from 1991 until today, that's a pretty long time for a memorial to finally become existent.
Why?
CHERNOFF: Heidi, there have been so many battles over the past few years on this very site -- political battles, battles over money, the federal government accusing that money was being wasted, the African-American community very angry that they had not originally had more of a role in the research and the preservation of the remains.
So there have been a lot of battles, many of them political. It's been a real struggle to get to this point, to have this monument finally erected and commemorated today.
COLLINS: CNN's Allan Chernoff live from New York.
It is a beautiful one.
CHERNOFF: Yes.
COLLINS: Thanks so much, Allan.
HARRIS: You know what?
Let's do this. Let's stay in New York for more on the importance of this new monument.
Howard Dodson is with us, director of the Schomburg Research Center in Black Culture.
And, Howard, good to talk to you.
We saw you in the piece just a couple of moments ago. But it's great to have you on with us live.
Howard, can you hear me OK?
DODSON: Yes, I can.
HARRIS: Great, great, great. Great to have you on with us.
As someone who start working on this at the very beginning, tell me, tell me, tell me, what this day means for you.
DODSON: Well, in many respects for me, it's not the culmination of a 16-year sojourn, but, really, the beginning of the real work that is to be carried out from this site with this monument and with the interpretive center that's here and that is...
HARRIS: What do you mean that...
DODSON: That is to tell the story of the African -- enslaved African population that's buried here -- the 15 to 20 million people who, quite frankly, were wiped out of our popular consciousness and out of historic memory for the better part of 200 years.
And with this monument, we are now able to say that their stories and their experiences, their lives and their role in making New York and this nation the place that it is, will be told to for generations and generations to go.
HARRIS: So, clearly, a tremendous teaching opportunity.
Are you surprised to find people today who are surprised to hear that there was slavery in New York City?
DODSON: I, as a historian, I'm not surprised because we were actually trained to believe that slavery was an institution of the South, that the people of the North were opposed to slavery and that they fought with the South to end slavery because of that opposition. That's the way our history has been taught over the years.
New York, like all of the rest of the original colonial societies, were slave societies. And that piece of our history has been kind of swept off of the record.
HARRIS: Yes. So...
DODSON: It's now back on the record.
HARRIS: In a big way.
Howard, what kind of a job has this young man, Rodney Leon, the architect, done in designing this monument?
Thirty-eight years old, I understand, and a Brooklyn native.
DODSON: Thirty-eight and a Brooklyn native and, actually, a native of Haiti, as well. He did something, I think, that the other applicants -- some 61 who attempted to get this project -- did not do. He went to Africa. He spent time there. He studied the sacred texts. He studied and he managed to get an understanding of both the meaning of this site and the telling of this story that is manifested and reflected in this monument. And I'm absolutely thrilled to, first, to have seen the model and now to have seen the real thing.
HARRIS: So the burial ground was discovered in 1991. Two more years before it was designated a national historic landmark. Heidi asked the question just a moment ago, what was the resistance to, first, designating the site as a national historic landmark?
And the real question, why did it take us 16 years to get to this day?
DODSON: Well, it was designated a historic landmark at that time. But it's just been named a national monument, which puts it on the level with the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial. All of those are in that category of national properties. And that has just happened this past year.
Why has it taken 16 years?
Because there's been, quite frankly, a tremendous amount of resistance to unearthing this particular piece of our history.
HARRIS: Why, why, why, why, why, why, why?
DODSON: And (INAUDIBLE)...
HARRIS: No, I can't let you go before you answer the why question.
DODSON: There's a belief, quite frankly, in America -- and a need to believe that America is a product of European initiative. And what this site has said from the beginning that is the development of New York City, like the development of America and the Americas, has always been an African and European joint enterprise, with the African population playing a much more significant role than has ever been known previously...
HARRIS: Howard Dodson...
DODSON: And the monument has told us this is what -- the story we need to tell.
HARRIS: Howard, appreciate your time this morning. Enjoy the day. It's a tremendous achievement and we can't wait to see some of the ceremony, the celebration this morning, live right here in THE NEWSROOM.
Thanks for your time this morning.
DODSON: I'm enjoying it already. It's a wonderful day.
Thank you.
HARRIS: Thanks, Howard.
COLLINS: He was a strong, healthy boy who just went for a swim in the lake and then something unimaginable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's beyond description to watch your most precious, beautiful, wonderful loved one go -- become a vegetable, essentially, and then die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Killer in the lakes, coming up.
AL QUARTERMONT, KALB CORRESPONDENT: I'm Al Quartermont in Alexandria, Louisiana. An armed gunman kills two people, shoots three others before he himself is killed.
That's coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We're going to show you this live picture now of some of the traffic there going over the bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This coming in from our affiliate there KARE 11 News, karee.
Reynolds Wolf is telling us -- our meteorologist at CNN -- that more rain is in store. You can tell by those skies, obviously, for the Twin Cities today. Flood warnings actually are in effect. So, he is going to be watching that all day long right here in the CNN Severe Weather Center. He's going to join us a little bit later. But I know the weather has been nice there lately. So this is -- oops, bye-bye. There it goes.
HARRIS: What?
COLLINS: It can only stay up so long.
We want to move on to this other story now for you this morning. A deadly hostage standoff coming to an end overnight in Louisiana. But three people are dead, including the hostage taker.
We want to go live now to reporter Al Quartermont.
He's with affiliate KALB in Alexandria -- good morning to you there, Al.
Tell us -- tell us what happened.
QUARTERMONT: Well, good morning to you, Heidi.
Well, what basically happened is yesterday afternoon, at a law firm, which -- I don't know if you can see, it's behind us about two blocks on the other side of the Red River Candy Company. The gunman, who is identified now as 63-year-old John Ashley, answered and proceeded to fire some shots.
What we've since learned about Ashley is that he is a retired city worker. He worked for the City of Alexandria for more than 30 years, but had been going through some real depression. He had lost his daughter a few months ago. On top of that, he's been dealing with the city on some of his retirement benefit issues and that's why he had hired this law firm, which goes by the name of Giordano and Giordano.
As we said, he fired five shots at people, killing two of them and wounding three of them. The victims have now been identified as Joey Giordano, who was in his early 30s. He's actually the son of the man for whom the firm is named and the nephew of the other man. And just a very sad story here, as he had just recently begun working for the firm. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
A postal worker, the man who delivers the mail in this neighborhood where our TV station, in fact, is located, he is our postman, he happened to be delivering the mail at the time. He, too, was shot and is killed. He leaves behind a wife and four children. And so this is really hitting this area hard.
As far as the other three victims who were injured, one of them included Camille Giordano. And he was taken to a local hospital. He's listed today in critical condition. His brother was taken to another hospital, where he remains in serious condition. And their secretary was also shot. She, too, is listed in serious condition.
So just a very tragic scene. It finally came to an end about 12:30 last night when police finally confronted the gunman. He returned fire on them, so they ended up shooting and killing him.
COLLINS: Boy, what an awful situation.
All right, we appreciate the update.
QUARTERMONT: Right.
COLLINS: Al Quartermont, thanks so much.
HARRIS: A suspect caught on tape but, still on the run this hour. Just over 24 hours after a brazen double killing and robbery, the manhunt underway right now for the gunman.
Police say he killed two armored car guards at a Philadelphia bank ATM. Both guards were retired police officers. Philadelphia's police commissioner said the men never stood a chance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMM. SYLVESTER JOHNSON, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: As the person came up, as they were emptying the bag, one of the security guards was there. The male came from behind the truck. He fired and shot the male. He went around and he shot the other male. There was no physical contact at all. It was just like an assassination. There was no physical contact. It was just fine. It was an assassination. He killed two people intentionally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Police found an empty duffel bag believed to be from the armored car.
Idaho Senator Larry Craig says he is not going anywhere. A judge in Minnesota refusing to allow the senator to withdraw his guilty plea in an airport sex sting. Hours after the ruling, Craig issued a statement saying he will look at other legal options and he will stay in the Senate.
Craig had promised to resign at the end of September. Now some of his Republican colleagues are fuming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: I think it's best for the U.S. Senate, it's best for certainly his party, that if he just keeps his word. He gave us his word he would do something. He's backing out on us. I don't think it's the right thing to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Senator Craig still faces a possible hearing before the Ethics Committee.
COLLINS: They vowed they would never do it. But tax evaders surrender. A five month stand-off with the taxman finally ends in New Hampshire.
HARRIS: A case of the hiccups that lasted for decades.
(VIDEOTAPE OF GIRL HICCUPPING)
HARRIS: Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Is she going to be OK?
COLLINS: Let's just keep listening.
HARRIS: Her family has taken her to doctors. No cure. Just wait until you see the home remedy.
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HARRIS: OK, another reminder for our friends all over the country -- in the West, the Midwest, the Southeast, the South, Northeast, all over the country. Go to CNN.com today because we have a special, special, special, special, special pod cast lined up for you starring Heidi Collins.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Go to CNN.com and download the CNN NEWSROOM daily pod cast, available to you 24-7 right there on your iPod.
COLLINS: That's a heck of a tease.
HARRIS: Well, I'm trying to change it up. COLLINS: On to this story now. Convicted tax evaders taken in. A New Hampshire couple had refused to surrender to authorities to serve their sentence. Instead, they were holed up inside their home for five months. U.S. Marshals had repeatedly said they wanted a peaceful surrender. Well, they got it yesterday. The couple convicted of evading $1.9 million in taxes. They were sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.
HARRIS: A student newspaper editor slapped. But he will keep his job. We told you about the four letter obscenity in the four word editorial about President Bush. Well, it appeared in the Colorado State University student newspaper last month. Editor David McSwain said he wanted to start a discussion about free speech. Well, he got that and a lot more. Some people outraged by the headline called for McSwain's ouster. Now, a student-run governing board reportedly has decided McSwain will keep his job. The board did admonish him.
COLLINS: Each week we take a look at someone who has left one career to start a second act in their lives.
This week, we find a New York man who has taken the second act quite literally.
Ali Velshi has his story in today's Life After Work.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This production of "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" doesn't look different. And that's exactly how Jim Sisto likes it.
JIM SISTO, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, FAMILY RESIDENCES: The thing about this group that is most amazing to me is their drive to exceed and to do well despite any obstacle that life or God or whoever throws at them.
VELSHI: And what you might find really amazing is that everyone in this production is developmentally or physically challenged.
SISTO: The participants in our program are varied -- people with physical disabilities, people with mental health issues, people with developmental disabilities.
VELSHI: Sisto is the artistic director for Family Residences and Essential Enterprises. It's an organization that houses and teaches more than 3,000 mentally challenged adults in Long Island. Sisto took what he thought was a short detour from graphic design in 1989 when he took a job at the center and tested out a theater program. The results surprised everyone.
SISTO: My biggest surprise with this program was the apparent change that came over so many people so quickly. People who could be aggressive stopped being aggressive because they knew if they, you know, they did cross over that line, that they were no longer able to do this thing that they loved so much. People were able to manage their symptoms for the first time in their life. Ali Velshi, CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, she is not running from it anymore. Track star Marion Jones -- ooh, it stings, stings, stings. I love Marion Jones. Reported admission on doping. The story coming up for you in THE NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Newly released surveillance video taken just before a woman decide in police custody at a Phoenix airport. Her final moments alive.
What do the tapes reveal?
HARRIS: But first, come on, be honest.
What would you do after finding a bulging bag of cash?
We will tell you what this woman did.
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HARRIS: A bag of cash just lying there. That's what Debbie Cole found the other day. Cole works at a solid waste operations center in St. Petersburg, Florida. The bag of greenbacks found outside the weight scale office. The 65,000 big ones may have fallen from a Loomis armored car.
Cole turn3d the money over to her spvsr and -- second thoughts?
Any, about giving up the cash?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE COLE, FOUND BAG OF CASH: Not one second thought. Not one. As a matter of fact, my first thought was really for the Loomis guy, because I figured he's going to be in big trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: How cool is that?
The money returned to the owner and no reward for her good deed?
Cole's boss says public employees can't accept rewards.
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